Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 119942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
After they’d eaten a seriously delicious meal and she was perched on one of the breakfast stools while he made them both coffee, she sighed. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?” It wasn’t really a question.
Placing the mug in front of her, Knox then braced his hands on the counter. He didn’t pretend to misunderstand her. “No. I’ve told you before, I don’t walk away from what’s mine. And you are mine.”
She blew over the rim of her mug. “Hmm.”
“No matter how much or how long you fight the bond, it won’t keep me away from you. Nothing will. I’ll always be in your life, Harper.” He paused as they both sipped at their coffee. “Haven’t I proven that I plan to be a constant presence?”
“Oh you’ve been around a lot, sure…but what happens if we bond? You wouldn’t need to try to prove anything to me anymore. You’d have what you want. The link would be formed. I’d officially be your anchor. You could only visit me when the time apart gets uncomfortable. I wouldn’t blame you.” She honestly wouldn’t. “I mean, we don’t have much in common. We have different lifestyles. I’m not part of your lair and I have no intention of changing that. Anchors are supposed to make each other’s lives easier and better. You already have everything you want. You don’t need me for anything. There’s literally nothing that I can offer you.” It hurt her pride, and dammit it just plain hurt.
He tilted his head as he mused, “You’re so used to people leaving you that you expect everyone to do it.”
“Yeah.” Harper was a self-aware person, she owned her faults. “It’s cliché and even a little pathetic—”
“It’s not pathetic.” He rounded the table, and twirled her stool so that she was facing him. “Now, let me address your little issues so we’re very clear. I’m not going to pretend we’ll see each other as often as we have since we met. I put aside a lot of work so that we could spend time together and get to know each other. But I have a busy schedule and I travel a lot. That doesn’t mean I won’t remain in contact with you. It doesn’t mean we won’t still see each other often.”
He tucked her hair behind her ear as he continued, “It’s true that we don’t have a lot in common, though I don’t see that as a bad thing and I’m not sure why you do. It’s also true that I have everything I want.” He shrugged. “Going after the things I want is part of who I am. Do you make my life easier? No. You’re willful and contrary and you’d snort at any order I tried to give you.”
“This is not making me feel better,” she grumbled.
“But… you intrigue me, which is a surprise in and of itself. I can never predict what you’ll say or do next. You’re a quirky, complex, fierce blaze of fire in my otherwise numb, predictable world. See, despite that I have everything I want, it hasn’t made me satisfied. If anything, it has made me bored and restless. There have been no challenges, no obstacles, and nothing I couldn’t manage or control one way or another…until you.” It drove him crazy, but it also energized him. “I like having you in my life. I intend to keep you in it.”
As his cell phone started ringing, he crossed the room to grab it from the counter and answer the call. Harper used that moment to gather her composure. He’d meant every word, she realized with a start. He actually liked having her around. If he was any other guy, she’d have been startled by all that honesty. But Knox Thorne wouldn’t care to hold back, because he wasn’t interested in anyone’s opinion of him. As he ended the call and stalked toward her, she slipped off the stool. “I should go.”
Curling an arm around her waist, Knox pulled her to him, staring into azure-blue eyes. Images of her naked, moaning, taking every inch of his cock had haunted his dreams and thoughts. His demon had practically sulked over Knox’s refusal to seek her out, and it clearly wanted her more than it had ever wanted another female. As both his body and his demon lunged for her, Knox urged, “Stay with me.”
Although it would be dumb, she wanted to, especially while her body was humming with the need to feel him in her. She was pathetically weak when it came to him, and it would be so easy to fold under the weight of the sheer unadulterated need he roused in her. But…“I told you on the jet—”
“Yes, you did.” He nipped at her pulse, making her jolt. “And I understand. You’re forgetting something, though.” He sucked on her earlobe. “You already know my demon doesn’t form attachments. It loses interest too quickly, it doesn’t want a relationship or a mate. And neither does yours or it would never accept humans as sexual partners – it would be searching for more. The last thing I’d do is hurt you. We’ll soon be linked on a level deeper than any demonic attachment.” He held her gaze as he stated firmly, “When we bond – and we will, Harper – we’ll be psychically linked. That means I’m never going to leave your life. Never.”